Maersk Line

Maersk Line

Maersk Line is the world’s largest container ship operator. Maersk Line is a unit of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and with offices around the world. The group was founded as a shipping company in 1904.

A.P. Moller-Maersk’s container shipping subsidiaries — Maersk Line, Safmarine, MCC-Transport, Seago Line and Mercosul Line — operate nearly 600 vessels with a total capacity of more than 2.6 million TEUs (20-foot-equivalent units). Maersk operates the largest container ships in the world to date, with delivery of its 18,270-TEU Triple E vessels beginning this year with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller.

Maersk Line has announced plans to join fellow major container lines Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, in the P3 Network, an alliance that will allow all three carriers to deploy their largest vessels in Asia-Europe trade, while deploying smaller vessels in Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic trade, subject to regulatory approval.

The 2M shipping alliance between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. can expand its vessel-sharing agreement on U.S. trade lanes connecting to Israel, Russia and Saudi Arabia after a 45-day review expired Thursday without U.S. Federal Maritime Commission action.

Maersk Line has signed an agreement with the Vladivostok Sea Port, one of Russia’s largest seaports, for regular container transport of fish and fish products from the Far East port to the central regions of the country.

Maersk Line has signed a $1.1 billion contract for nine 14,000-TEU ships from Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, its third major order this year, as it accelerates a $15 billion investment program aimed at consolidating its ranking as the world’s largest ocean container carrier.

Maersk has sold its majority-owned offshore support company Esvagt to private equity investors in the latest disposal of non-core operations as it focuses on container shipping and terminals and oil and gas exploration and drilling.

In its most aggressive move in the African market in years, APM Terminals has begun construction on a new container terminal at Ghana’s largest container gateway and plans to invest heavily on inland connections to allow growing volume to move more efficiently to and from the hinterland.

In its new mega-ship order announced on Tuesday, Maersk Line took a conservative road, achieving a 7 percent capacity increase in ships of almost identical hull dimensions to its Triple-E class. In the process, it is showing how carriers are not automatically opting to build ever-larger ships to push the boundaries of economies of scale.

The North Atlantic, for long the “sleeping dog“ of container trades, is “waking up,” as rising European imports on the back of a strong U.S. dollar lift freight rates and attract new services, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

Maersk Line has entered into a vessel sharing agreement with Mediterranean Shipping Co, its 2M alliance partner, and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) on the Asia to East Coast of South America trade route.